By the time my sister Ali arrived in the world in 1998, my older sister and I were already regular attendees of the 21st party scene. We joked, “When Ali is 21, I’ll be 39 and you’ll be 40”. At the time, this seemed like a million years away but we celebrated Enrika’s big 4-0 back a few weeks ago and this weekend, Ali celebrated her 21st. The major international news story of 1998 was the impeachment probe of President Clinton and in an Irish context, the Good Friday Agreement was signed.
Although it didn’t make the top stories of 1998, the climate was on the agenda. That year, the UN Climate Change Conference took place in Argentina and included the 4th Conference of the Parties (COP4) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Little was achieved. Fast forward those 21 years and the 25th session of this conference was to take place this year in Brazil. However, upon his election as president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is notoriously climate sceptical, pulled Brazil out of hosting the event. Now instead COP25 will be organized by Chile.
Last week, I attended the launch of the Public Consultation on the Agriculture, Forest and Seafood Sectoral Climate Change Adaptation Plan. The consultation is about how we as an industry would adapt to the rise in temperatures “that is coming” according to Seamus Walsh of Met Éireann.
One of the four Mercosur countries, Brazil last year released its worst annual deforestation figures in a decade and there are fears that with Bolsonaro in power, the situation will worsen. It is therefore hardly surprising that farmers are extremely frustrated that a deal on Mercosur had been reached.
The importance of the rainforests in terms of the environment is well documented and this deal is considered bad by farmers and environmentalists alike.
My sister, the 21-year-old, is a Gen Z-er. It is her generation and the generations after her that will bear the brunt of climate change. Mercosur was her lifetime in the making and in that time the Amazon shrunk by 243,000sqkm (INPE & FAO).
In every issue of Irish Country Living we tell the positive stories of Irish agriculture and our local communities.
A great example is this week’s It Takes a Village where Margaret Hawkins writes of the people of Craanford, Co Wexford and their positive “one thing leads to another” can-do attitude.
However, it is not all positive and the negative stories also need to be told and that is why once a month our health pages are dedicated to mental health, this month looking at anxiety.
And for many farmers this week, with the Mercosur news, they will be wondering where their future lies
In this week’s Around the Kitchen Table Mairead Lavery details the mixed emotions of a group of farmers in Limerick whose resilience was sorely tested during the BSE crisis of the late 1990s.
And for many farmers this week, with the Mercosur news, they will be wondering where their future lies. Minister Creed and Commissioner Hogan have said that the impact is down the road and measures will be introduced to ease the pain but mentally for every farmer who relies on beef for his or her income, the stress and anxiety and uncertainty that started a long time ago worsened demonstrably on Friday. Justin McCarthy last weekend called for honesty from the Government on their plan for the beef sector. I can only re-echo that call.